Improved device for securing the port-stoppers of ships



I JW/wing I l ".FETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C NITED STAT-EsPATENT OFFICE.

JoEL A. HowE, or BANGOR, MAINE.

IMPROVED DEVICE FOR SECURING THE PORT-STOPPERS OF SHIPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,54, dated July 19,1864.

To LEZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOEL A. HOWE, of Bangor, in the county of Penobscotand State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved Mode ot' Securingthe Port-Stoppers ot' Ships and Other Vessels; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, whichwill enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Y Figure l is averticalsectionofaporthaving myimproved mode of securing the port-stopper applied. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section otl a porthaving the stopper secured in the manner heretofore commonly used.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre spending parts in theseveral tigures.

rEhe ordinary mode ot' securing the portstoppers of vessels is by meansof bars B, placed across the inside of the port P, and cords (l, passedround the said bars and through eyes a, secured in the stopper A, asshown in Fig. 3. These cords, owing to their shrinkage and stretchingwith different degrees of the moisture of the cargo, are liable tobecome slack, and the stopper is then permitted to get loosened by theworking of the ship and toleak, and in many instances,^when the ship isloaded, it is difficult to get at it to tighten it. This is especiallythe case when a vessel has been loaded with wet lumber, and this cargotaken out and a dry cargo put in.

The object of my invention is to prevent the loosening of the stopperfrom any such causes; and to this end it consists in the subsitution forthe cord of a screw-and-chain i connection of peculiar constructionbetween the stopper and the .bar which is placed across theinterior ofthe port.

. In carrying out my invention the port-stopper A may be made in twoparts and fitted to the port P inthe usual manner, as shown in Fig. 2,and each part be secured by a separate bar, B, which has aV hole boredthrough it for the passage of the screw E. The head of this screw, whichis on the outboard side of the bar, is made with an eye, b, for theattachment ot two chains, d d, which are connected with the eyes a o ofthe stopper A, and the said screw is fitted on the inboard side of thebar with a nut, F, for drawing in the screw and tightening the chains,and thereby securing the port iirmly in place. The port thus secured maybe calked. in the usual manner, and when once tight will remain so.

To take out the stopper, the nuts F are taken ott' the screws E, and thebarsB removed, when the stopper may be removed in the usual manner, thescrew remaining attached to it by the chains; or the screw maybefslackened and the holt started back suftciently to admit of unhookingthe chains from the stopper. The latter may then be taken ont, leavingthe chains and bolt attached to the bar B.

What I claim as my invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the port-stopper A, double chains d el, screw E, nutF, and bar B, when constructed, arranged, and employed in the mannerherein specified.

JOEL A. HOWE.

Vitnesses:

SAMUEL. F. HUMrI-IREY, H. D. HADLoo/K.

